ORGANIZING TOOLKITS

Tackling Climate Change through Food

When you think about the main culprits of global climate change, do you picture plumes of smoke from coal-fired power plants and the boardroom machinations of Big Oil? You wouldn’t be wrong. But alongside the fossil fuel industry, there is another sector driving the climate crisis: food. Indeed, the global food system—from how and where our food is produced to what we’re growing and how it arrives at our dinner table—is one of the biggest drivers of the climate crisis.

You might be thinking, "We need to feed the planet. We don't have a choice." Except we do: we already have the knowledge to radically reduce the food system’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy use and the tools to turn a major driver of the climate into a key part of the solution. We just need to get organized.

A recent report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that drastic changes in our global economy over the next decade are necessary if we hope to keep temperature increases to only 1.5 degrees C and avoid all-out climate calamity. Linked to so many climate-sensitive activities—from energy to land use to waste—there’s no doubt about it: food has to be turned on its head from being part of the problem to being part of the solution.

Thereis hope. And that hope lies in building movements for just and sustainable community-based food systems that can take on corporate power and heal the planet. People are already doing it!

The resources in this toolkit will help you get inspired on your own or organize a fun and engaging event that connects the dots between food and climate justice, and motivates your community to join the movement.